Fastjet started life in 2012 with an ambitious pan-African LCC strategy that called for launching several airlines on the continent. Today fastjet is battling to survive beyond March, triggering questions over the viability of its pan-African strategy, which is entering its third major revamp. Fastjet began with a relatively conventional LCC model and easyJet founder Stelios Haji-lo-annou as a high-profile shareholder. The group aimed to create economies of scale by becoming a pan-African LCC, using low fares to stimulate demand on Airbus A319-operated routes. That model makes sense in the US and European markets, which both have thriving LCC sectors thanks to liberalization. Africa has yet to be fully liberalized, despite decades of work and multiple attempts to remove regulatory barriers. "Africa is a tough market to make money in," Naveo Consultancy managing director Richard Brown told ATW. "The continent remains one of two, including Latin America, that haven't made overall profits in the past few years of 'good times,' in contrast to other regions. Political interference, restrictive bilaterals, don't help either."
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